When I was a kid (the 70s) there was Coke, there was Pepsi, and** 7 Up** was always third. In fact, because you liked *either *Coke or Pepsi, 7 Up was actually always kind of second (Dr. Pepper was a distant fourth). Everybody had it, fast food places, movie theaters, supermarkets, corner stores. It was ubiquitous.
Then slowly Sprite seemed to equal, and then overtake it. Now 7 Up is not only becoming nearly impossible to find even in supermarkets, but Sierra Mist, a formerly third-tier, small regional knock-off brand, is overtaking it as Sprite’s biggest competitor! Given their success it doesn’t seem that demand for lemon-lime soda has declined significantly, so how did 7 Up go from the number one brand lemon-lime to a distant third (if at all)?
Sprite and Sierra Mist are owned by Coke and Pepsi, so they have a huge advantage in distribution over 7-Up which is owned by your distant number four, Dr. Pepper (Snapple).
Just for the record, top ten soda drinks by sales. Dr Pepper is actually more popular the Sprite, and Mtn Dew is more popular then both.
The article actually mentions your question (whatever happened to 7-Up), but sadly doesn’t pose an answer. Maybe using “up yours” as an advertising slogan is as bad an idea as it seems?
You used to - years ago - have mixed soda machines - whether vending machines or fountain. But then the soda distributors started owning the machines and leasing them to you (or giving them to you as part of your soda subscription), and you stopped having control over what when into the machines - you carried what the distributor asked you to - but at such a sweet discount for your Coke or Pepsi (and Diet versions thereof) which was the majority of your sales, that 7Up drinkers be damned. Coke and Pepsi came up with their own 7Up like products so the 7Up drinkers still had the lemon lime alternative.
You can still by the cans of soda syrup and rent a fountain machine (or you could fifteen years ago - we did it for my wedding reception) and get a mix and match fountain, but it isn’t as cheap.
I hadn’t even noticed 7-Up getting scarce, but now that I think about it, I can’t remember the last time I saw it. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. I’d kinda like to have one now, just for old time’s sake.
There are still a few stores around here that carry Tab.
I buy diet 7 Up all the time, and I’ve never noticed it difficult to find.
That chart of top selling soft drinks is a bit surprising to me. Fanta is more popular than 7 Up? Outside of the US, I would say of course, but in the States, Fanta doesn’t seem anywhere near as common as 7 Up.
There’s always the factor of marketing and distribution muscle. The big guys can pummel the competition.
Also, in the soda business the local distributors are independent from the manufacturer. I think, and CMIIW, a lot of Pepsi distributors had franchises to distribute Dr. Pepper. Having Pepsi in the stable gave the local distributors the muscle to keep Dr. Pepper on the shelves. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Dr. Pepper sale had a better margin than a Pepsi sale. I have no idea why Seven-Up fell short but I have to think it had a lot to do with the distributors.
It’s like with magazines. You can introduce a really superior product but if you are not Hearst, Conde Nast, Time Warner or one of the other few majors you have an expensive uphill battle to get you product displayed and sold. Either you align with them and eventually sell to them or they will clone you and bury you with marketing and distribution muscle. That’s free market economics.
BTW, Dr. Pepper and 7Up merged in 1988. 7Up had been owned by Philip Morris at an earlier point. Doctor Pepper/7Up was one of the acquisitions by Cadbury-Schweppes during their crusade to dominate the non-cola soft drink market in 1990s, which resulted in their acquiring a very large number of soft drink brands and other beverages, including many brands you may have thought of as “independent” - Canada Dry, A&W, Crush … they bought at least four root beer brands - A&W, Hires, Stewarts and IBC. The whole mess is now owned by a separate corporate entity, the Doctor Pepper / Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) (Yeah, they bought Snapple, too). Cadbury spun them off a few years back.
ETA:
I dug up that history when I got curious about Squirt, which I drink. Somehow that keeps getting sold. They were owned by A&W and DPSU.
Squirt. Funny you mention it. It is/was good stuff. A grapefruit soft drink. There is a family legend that my uncle, who was a commercial artist, drew the little guy that was the logo for Squirt for so many years. I don’t know how to research the veracity of that assertion.
Interesting. The company themselves says that “Little Squirt” was created in 1941 by Herb Bishop and his business partner. Of course, they probably commissioned some commercial artist to draw the character. BTW, I was wrong about their ownership by DPSU. They were owned by A&W at one point, but A&W was bought directly by Cadbury-Schweppes.
Thanks. That is probably something that will never be known. What I do know is that my uncle was an artist and could draw a cartoon character at will. I saw him do it. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Herb Bishop commissioned him or his agency.
It doesn’t matter, the little Squirt guy will always be cool in my eyes.
IIRC, many years ago, 7-UP (which WAS my fav lemon-lime) re-formulated itself to taste EXACTLY like Sprite.
The market nobody has mentioned: Bars.
Remember those wands bartenders have, with something like 8 buttons?
Getting one of those buttons means more in sales than most supermarket chains. Hotel bars are a huge market - get Marriott, and you just got a few thousand wand buttons.
Since every wand has a “coke” button, it didn’t take much selling to get the lemon-lime button to say “Sprite”.
7-Up couldn’t get a button to save it’s soul, so, by tasting the same, they could compete simply on price - your customers will get the same taste they’ve always gotten, and we can sell at…
Don’t know if that was THE reason, but it certainly didn’t hurt in their thinking.
The other thing is the consumption pattern - more soft drinks now come out of machines (guess), whereas they were purchased at the sotre and consumed at home.
You ever see one of those barrel-front, illuminated soda machines (you know, the ones which catch your eye) ever say anything except “Coke” or “Pepsi”? Ever see 7-Up dispensed in a Coke or Pepsi machine?
Short form: times change, distribution models change, market shares change.
